Son of the Bat
by The Darkness Knight
Summary: AU to the main storyline, Damian Wayne has spent years training and finding himself after fighting his mother Talia and the Heretic, he returns to Gotham with one mission, to help save his city from the corruption that has begun to plague it since his father's retirement as Batman. The line between good and evil is drawn as Damian faces his toughest challenges yet.


**Okay, so this is my first story set in the Batman comics, as a major AU to the events of Batman Incorporated Volume 2 issue number 8 where Damian Wayne dies at the hands of the Heretic, which leads into the final fight in the Leviathan, basically Damian instead of dying was in a coma everything will be explained as the story progresses. Also, this story does exist within the Man of Steel and Arrow universes, but certain things have happened already. The Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill Batman vs. Superman team up has happened as well as the events of the unknown Justice League movie coming out in 2017 has already happened, this is the aftermath.**

He heard the sound overhead, the sound of a plane, it was flying close to him, the area he was in was a giant open field leading to a strip of black pavement, he let his feet take him on a full sprint, he couldn't let the plane leave; he had to get back home.

It had been too long, three- years and he had been mistaken for everything he had done, he knew why he did it, but he didn't want to keep doing it, he was ready to come back to where he belonged.

The hill he was running on was covered in grass, dirt and mud, the tree line was thick, only a small opening in the canopy allowed him to see the plane and let him see it was still morning.

His feet let him run up the hill, but he felt himself go down as he slipped and fell flat on his stomach, clad in nothing more than a blue jacket, a sling brown bag over his shoulder and matching pants with brown boots, his black hair was wild and bewildered like he hadn't been in front of a mirror and his beard was thick and un-kept almost down to his chest. He pulled himself up and kept running.

The clearing in the woods was in sight, a bright light at the end of the tunnel, a break in the tree line gave him his target, the black pavement strip, he took a giant sigh of relief and held his hands on his knees, catching his breath which was slipping away quickly and luckily for him, the plane was parked.

He stood up, letting his back crack as he let his sprint downgrade into a stride, the plane was getting closer, its white paint job came into view and the decal along the wings and the tail gave him everything he needed to know as per its identity, a black W inside of a circle with each point in the W connecting with the circle.

A smile spread on his face as the door opened in the hull and the stairs lowered, out of the plane came a man came out, his hair snow white, definitely a lot different from the gray he remembered from the years before, he wore a tan suit with a dark green and red striped tie.

"Master Wayne." Alfred Pennyworth smiled "It's been a long time."

"That it has Alfred smiled."

"I would say you look fashionable sir….but the mud doesn't work for you."

He smiled and followed Alfred up the stairs and the plane began to close, the years he had spent every day he travelled he would never forget it.

* * *

He winced in pain as the straight edge razor went against his beard, shaving off the last of the thick hair and let it fall into the trash bin, he took a sigh of relief as he felt the light amount of scruff on his cheeks, his black hair was slicked back and his blue eyes were still filled with fire and determination.

"I trust things went well Master Damian?"

That was the name he was given by his father, it was a name he hadn't used in about three years, to his birth certificate, he was Damian Thomas Wayne, but to his mother, Talia al Ghul, he was Ibn al Xu'ffasch, but he preferred being called Damian, a name his mother called him. To his father, Bruce Wayne, he was nothing more than Damian, his biological son and the final member of the Bat-family, the son he always wanted, even if when they met he wasn't the perfect child.

When he was younger, he was arrogant, spoiled and destructive, over the course of the last three years, he was becoming something else, but he wanted to believe he was becoming more like his father, dedicated, honorable and much more tolerant.

"They did Alfred, I know Dad was furious with me when I told him I was leaving, but I didn't really have any other choice. I….needed to find myself." Damian replied

"And what did this walkabout tell you Master Damian?"

Damian turned from the mirror to see Alfred sitting inside the plane, the white interior had tan colored chairs which could recline, a table sat in the middle; it was his father's private plane, the plane he only used when he had to travel and if he had to guess….the Batwing was hidden within the interior of the plane.

Damian took a breath and sat down across from Alfred and looked out at the sunset "I'm going to do what Dad more than likely hadn't expected from me….keep the dream alive that I had when I was twelve when I left…I'm going to take over his work."

Alfred took a breath, he didn't want to tell him, but he knew it had to be said "Five years ago the family nearly lost your father."

Damian looked at Alfred with a surprised and shocked look on his face, he hadn't expected to hear that.

"He was out on patrol alone, and suffered a heart attack, we nearly lost him had it not been for the suit's energy readings; your father would have died. Since then, Master Dick has left for Bludhaven, and Master Tim left for New York City."

"What about Cassandra, Barbara and Stephanie?"

"Miss Cassandra has continued to stay at the house, she's helping your father recover and still operates in the city. Miss Barbara has left Gotham all together and no one has heard from her since and Miss Stephanie is no longer Batgirl and is with Tim in New York, though based on his last call, he may be coming home soon." Alfred explained

Damian thought for a while, everyone was gone, Dick, Tim, Stephanie and Barbara, they all left, they didn't even wait around to see Damian come back, maybe it was his dad, or maybe it was him, he of questioned how unstable he made the family when he arrived fourteen years ago.

"I want to see him Alfred, my Dad."

Alfred smiled "I'm sure he'll be happy to see you."

* * *

The manor hadn't changed at all, it still had the same eerie feeling to it, the same amount of dread and it was still home and to Damian, that was what he wanted it to feel like, home.

But there was something missing, everyone going around the house all the time, Dick watching the game in the den with Tim taking bets trying to decide which team would win the game, regardless of the sport. Stephanie teaching Cassandra how to read and Barbara clicking away on her laptop in the kitchen trying to drown out all the noise that was coming out of the living room while Alfred would cook and his father would read the paper during the day or preparing to go out on patrol as Batman.

Alfred approached the grandfather clock in the study, the same one that Damian always knew that never could never tell time, the same time had been there for years ten-forty-seven, the same time that his biological grandparents Thomas and Martha died. His hand pressed against the side of the clock and pulled it to the side, the hinges moved revealing the entrance to the caves.

"Things seem so quiet now Alfred." Damian mumbled to the butler

"It's an empty nest now Damian," Alfred smiled down at the child he considered a grandchild "But I'm sure things will change soon enough."

The stairs felt the same, cold and made of stone, something Damian always knew was what made him feel like he belonged in the cave.

Nothing changed in the Batcave at all, his father still held the Batcomputer in the back, the chemical tables on the far end, the giant penny he had acquired from a fight at Gotham Mint against Two Face, the giant T-Rex from Dinosaur Island, then there were the various trophies from the previous villains of the past, a giant Joker card, a penguin statue, the Mad Hatter's costume, a set of samurai swords and matching armor that was encased in glass, Scarface, or at least the original, all of the scratches and marks from past fights were present on the wood, but the one thing that caught his attention was in the back behind the Batcomputer.

There were glass displays, they housed costumes, while there were a lot of them that were empty, there were four he recognized, the first one was his, the same Robin suit he wore when he was ten, the only thing that stood out from the one next to it was the hood, he always did like wearing hoods, still did. The one next to it had a gold plate on the glass _A Good Soldier _and a Batgirl suit, more than likely Barbara's suit, then the one in the middle caught his eye, his fathers, the same dark gray suit, black symbol and black cape and cowl.

He didn't even hear clicking on the computer's keyboard, he turned to the Batcomputer being active, and Alfred walked up to the side of the chair whispering to the person sitting in it.

It didn't take long until the chair turned and Damian was face to face with the owner.

"It's good to see you again….son."

Bruce Wayne stood up from the chair, although he was not the same man he recognized from three years ago, his black hair had grays, a lot of grays, giving it almost a salt and pepper type of look, his back was slightly hunched and he was walking with a cane, his face had creases in it, the pure sign he was getting older, he didn't even wear suits anymore, at least not at home, he wore a dark gray t-shirt with a black sweater and matching slacks and shoes.

"Dad, you've gotten old." Damian smiled as he stepped forward

"It's been years Damian, you made it seem like you weren't coming back." Bruce replied

"I wanted to come home Dad, I know I was a spoiled brat, but I did it to prove to you that I deserve to be out there."

That day was the hardest day Damian ever faced, it was thirteen years ago to the day, he had been in a coma after the final battle against his mother Talia's organization The Leviathan.

* * *

_Damian paced the floor of the Batcave, his feet hitting the floor echoed through the damp cave walls, he had just woken up; Alfred thought he wasn't going to make it, getting stabbed by The Heretic had caused him to nearly die, but now he had a nice scar in the middle of his chest to prove it didn't work._

"_What are you doing down here Damian?"_

_He looked over at the vehicle wheel to his father in his heavy Kevlar armor, blood stained the suit and he had kept his cowl on._

"_I wanted to talk to you, Dick just told me that you don't want another partner."_

"_After what happened Damian, what your mother made that insane clone of you do to you…" Bruce walked past his son and sat down in the chair in front of the Batcomputer "You are forbidden to put on the Robin suit ever again."_

"_What!? I didn't spend ten years of my life training with mom only to then have you turn around two years after she dumps me here to tell me I can't be Robin again? I'm the best Robin you have! I'm not like Tim, Jason or even Dick. I'm your son!"_

"_Damian that is enough!" Bruce snapped at his son "It is that reason alone that makes me want to not let you put on the costume again, you are my son, I will not lose you to one of them ever again!" _

* * *

"You really think you can do this Damian?" Bruce asked

Damian took a moment and nodded he was twenty-five years old now, it had been thirteen years since that day and he was ready for it "I'll only do it if you help me, I can't do this alone."

Bruce nodded "But there's something else, you're going in with a partner."

Within the confines of the cave, a loud roar echoed through the walls, a pair of lights brightened up the driving strip and slowly stopped near the Batmobile, Damian recognized it as the Batcycle.

The rider wore a black costume with a golden bat-symbol etched across the owner's chest, a golden belt across their hips, and a thin domino mask with the points going into the owner who he recognized as female's shoulder length black hair.

"Ah, Cassandra, just who I was looking for."

"Thought you wanted me out on patrol tonight?" Cassandra Cain-Wayne walked over to him and smiled "Damian?"

"Cassie." Damian smiled as the two of them hugged

"Glad to see you two are getting along so well, because from here on out, you two are going to be partners." Bruce said calmly

The two of them looked at him "Dad, you can't be serious."

"No, this is the only way I will allow you to join the family again. So?" Bruce held out a hand

Damian looked at his father, then at Alfred then back at Cassandra who smiled and nodded, he nodded back and shook his father's hand

"Very well then Damian, welcome to my world." Bruce nodded in approval

As their pair shook hands, a swarm of bats began to fly overhead and around the cave itself.

**Again, I hope everyone enjoys and stay tuned for the next chapter!**


End file.
